Ship Size
Gates which hulls you can build. Bigger hulls take more hits to destroy and carry higher-level technology, but cost more to maintain.
Tech Tree
TECHNOLOGIES
14 technologies, each with a distinct role. Master the full toolkit to outmaneuver and destroy your rivals.
Propulsion
Across seven ranks, Propulsion increases how many systems your Combat Fleets cross in a single turn. Speed sets up first strikes, accelerates expansion, and lets a battered fleet slip away before it's wiped out.
Exploration
Equip your Cruisers with advanced sensors to peek at an adjacent system without entering it — and without revealing your ship. Scout hazards like Black Holes safely, then craft an informed plan to defeat the enemy.
Attack
Each level adds +1 to Attack Strength, directly improving your odds to land a hit. A ship can't equip Attack higher than its Hull Size, so larger hulls reward heavier investment.
Defense
Each level adds +1 Defense Strength, lowering the enemy's chance to hit your ships. Also capped by Hull Size — making large, well-teched hulls brutally hard to kill.
Tactics
When ships of the same Weapon Class fire, higher Tactics shoots first — and shooting first can kill a ship before it ever acts. If Tactics are tied, the defender wins the exchange.
Shipyard
Allows for building more ships per Economic Phase. Stack multiple Shipyards in one system to build a fleet even faster.
Terraforming
Unlocks colonization of Barren Planets that are otherwise off-limits. Once terraformed, they grow and generate income like any other colony — turning dead worlds into economic engines.
Cloaking
Allows the building of Raiders, making them invisible to any enemy without Scanners. Cloaked, they choose whether to join a fight, retreat before combat, and slip past Mines untouched.
Scanners
The answer to Cloaking — Scanners detect cloaked Raiders and drag them into open combat instead of letting them pick their fights. Higher levels improve your detection.
Mines
Defensive weapons that destroy one ship apiece before a shot is fired — and a single Mine kills any hull, from a Scout to a Dreadnaught. You choose which ships go down.
Minesweepers
Clear enemy Mines before they detonate, protecting the fleet behind them. Each Minesweeper removes more Mines as its level climbs — the dedicated counter to a minefield.
Fighters
Cheap squadrons launched from Carriers or based at your Colonies. They strike early in combat, and higher Fighter tech raises both their Attack and their Defense against Point Defense fire.
Point Defense
Arm your Scouts to fire on enemy Fighters early, before a swarm can land its blow. It's the dedicated counter to a carrier-and-Fighter doctrine, turning cheap Scouts into a screen against cheap Fighters.